Ed's disappointed to find he has been placed with a partner to keep him out of trouble and from nearly killing himself all the time. But it's not what he expected. The fiery red-head from Northern Michigan is a bombshell the company dropped on him, and Ed finds he may have met his match.

"Really? You've been landed with a partner?" Dom asked as he and Ed sat in a booth of their usual café.

"Can you believe it?" Ed fumed, waving the manila folder around. He slapped it down on the table and Dom picked it up.

"Hm… seems they thinks you put yourself in to much danger."

"I do not. But either way, Keith'll be here tomorrow." Dom flashed back to Ed having his face plowed through a concrete column, having 90 of his face burned off, then having a giant turtle hit him in the head at terminal velocity. He mentally waved it off.

"Keith?" He asked

"Yeah, what kind of name is that?" Ed asked, opening the menu. "I'm telling you, first chance I get, I'm planting an explosive bullet in the back of his head, Oh, I'll have the pot sticker plate please." Ed pointed to the item for the waitress with the same knife he had stabbed the table with. The waitress added the repair price to Ed's bill. It was a normal routine with these two.

"They'll just send another you know." Dom said once he was finished ordering.

"If they keep dieing, they'll stop sending them." Ed said, a evil smirk on his face. Dom looked at him blankly. Ed scratched the mole by his left eye.

"That looked better on your old face." He said.

"Apparently it's supposed to help me learn new tactics. Only thing its done is got me a fan club." Ed shuddered. Dom only looked at him. The talk soon turned to new weapon development and recent explosions they had caused. After they ate, they split ways. Ed walked to his apartment, scratching the mole under his right eye and already hating the next day.

Ed had just finished packing his second gun into its case when a knock sounded at his door. Grumbling, he went to open it and greet his new partner. He opened the door, took one look at the person there, then shut the door again. He turned and the knock came again. This process was repeated several times before the disgruntled female spoke.

"I'm getting pretty pissed here. Shut that door again, and I'll bust it down." Ed paused as he went to shut the door, giving the girl a good once over.

She had red hair that was pulled up into a pony-tail which reached her shoulders. She wore a long-sleeved, deep green turtle neck with an army style vest, camouflage cargo pants, combat boots, and a utility belt with a least three pistols, a hand grenade, spare bullets, and a walkie-talkie. She shoved its partner into Ed's hand as she walked past him into the apartment before he could slam the door in her face again. She removed the headphones from her ears and shoved them into a pocket that obviously held a musical device.

"What the hell do you think your doing?!" Ed cried. " Get the F - - - out!" The girl made a disgusted face.

"Nice language. Did you even READ the report you got?" She asked, crossing her arms and cocking her hips. Ed dropped the walkie-talkie.

"What. The. Hell…. NO WAY! I am SO blowing Sony!"

"Not a good idea. Where will you get a paycheck?" Keith asked blankly.

"Keith cannot be your real name…" Ed muttered.

"DUH! You really don't read do you?" Keith asked, irritation flashing in her brown eyes. She moved her hands to her cocked hips. "Keith is my CODE NAME; my REAL name is Kate Tiffany Henderson. The E and I stand for extreme and irrational because I can get that way sometimes. And incase you didn't read the rest of the report, I'm here to provide a system of checks and balances so you don't get into harms way so much."

"That can't be your original face…" Ed said thought fully, squinting at her.

"Can we PLEASE stay on topic, or do you want this grenade in your face?" Kate snapped, ready to pull it out of her belt. Ed glanced at her, then grabbed his gun cases and left the apartment.

" Thank you, come again! "Piro called as the customer left the store. Loud video game sounds came from the break room. Piro glowered in that direction as he grabbed his sketch book and began to draw. The day had been pretty slow, so Erika had joined Largo in the break room to play video games, and it sounded like they'd be in there for awhile yet.

Piro looked up as the door opened, admitting a woman who looked a lot like his in-game character Piroko. The few differences were that her hair was red, her eyes brown, and her hair was up in a pony tail that swept her shoulders as she walked.

"Sweet! Authentic Japanese manga!" She said, her eyes sparkling. " Hey! Have any Spryte in here? "

"No, sorry." Piro replied.

"Alright! An American! Where you from?" Kate asked.

"Oh, (wherever Piro's from). You?"

"Northern Michigan! Go Wolverines!" She said. The door opened and Ed walked in.

" Damn! Can't take my eyes off you for fives seconds and trust that you wont go running off! " He complained. " You take off on me one more time, and you're a tin can! "

" Hey Ed, you know her? " Piro asked.

" Not really. " Ed replied.

" She's his new partner. " Dom informed as he walked through the door. Ed flinched.

" Dom, I am going to saw you in half. " Ed glowered. Just then, a cry of "EVIL!" rang out from the break room, and Largo ran out, Erika right behind.

"Largo no!" Piro yelled as his fiery haired friend barreled right for Kate. Kate, however, lifted her foot at the last second, so largo hit that instead. The man fell back, the imprint of kate's boot on his face, nose broken. Erika helped him up.

" Oh, sorry, your boyfriend ?" Kate asked.

" Sorta, but he needs a good hit now and then. "

" You've given him your fair share of 'good hit's' " Piro said, remembering when Erika had broken Largo's left arm in three places and shoved a coffee cup down his throat.